DIRECTV Now has experienced frequent buffering, and widespread outages, for several consecutive nights, according to the service’s Twitter customer help page, and user comments at social media sites.
Hundreds of DIRECTV Now subscribers say they’ve had difficulty logging in to the live streaming service during primetime hours. And if they are able to log in, their picture often freezes or is interrupted by buffering during a show.
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The outpouring of complaints trace back at least a week although some customers claim they’ve had issues during all of December.
“Any plans on fixing the freezing issues? I love the platform however it never seems to work. I have tried everything recommend (ed) to fix this issue… still freezes,” @tannerminsheew wrote last night on Twitter.
“Got a new 4K Apple TV for Christmas but can’t sign in. Keeps saying username/password is wrong but it isn’t wrong. Keeps locking the account for 30 min. Why can’t I log in?!” added @skosanovich.
The problem seems to be affecting users of multiple devices, including computers, the Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV.
@DIRECTVNowHelp, the service’s Twitter customer service page, has acknowledged several times during the last few days that there is a problem, although it has not divulged what is causing the technical snafus.
“Yes right now we are experiencing a slight outage,” the streaming service tweeted this morning at 1;23 a.m. “We apologize for the inconvenience we are working promptly on recovering our service back up shortly. Thank you for your patience.”
DIRECTV Now issued a similar statement yesterday morning in response to complaints made on the night of December 26.
“We apologize about this issue. Our DIRECTV NOW technicians are currently working on the issue that caused the outage. Please bear with us as we resolve the issue,” @DIRECTVNowHelp tweeted.
The live streaming service also said it suffered some outages on Christmas night.
“We were experiencing a few minor outages earlier, But we are back up. Have you ran your service?,” @DIRECTVNowHelp asked one upset Christmas night customer on Twitter.
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The TV Answer Man has asked AT&T, which owns DIRECTV Now, for an explanation for the technical issues and will report back here if we receive one.
DownDetector.com, which tracks online outages, reports that the number of DIRECTV Now complaints have spiked the last three nights. (The site only posts site activity for the past three days.)
Many subscribers say the problems seem to occur largely in primetime when the greatest number of customers are using DIRECTV Now. Live streaming service historically suffer more technical issues when customer use rises, creating a greater strain on the service’s infrastructure.
DIRECTV Now is currently offering a ‘one-year-anniversary’ promotion which enables new customers to get its basic service for just $10 the first month. That could be driving more traffic to DIRECTV Now’s apps.
However, it should be noted that DIRECTV Now has had recurring technical issues since its debut on November 30, 2016, although most subscribers say it has improved in recent months.
That is, until now.
“Why does my DIRECTV Now on Fire (TV) stick keeps on Crashing and halting then crashes all the time,” @JrLegoJr asked @DIRECTVNowHelp on Christmas night.
Update: On the night of December 28, DIRECTV Now did not experience widespread technical issues; complaints last night on social media sites dropped dramatically compared to the previous several nights.
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— Phillip Swann
As they say, not ready for prime time…
I took DIRECTV NOW for a spin for the month of December. The performance was pitiful to say the least – frequent buffering, video freezing while audio still played and consistently pixelated picture. I had a much better experience with Sling when it was still new and I had a 12 Mbps DSL connection. Switched to Vue after that with a 55 Mbps internet connection and had minimal buffering issues and zero picture quality issues. Going to try Hulu next.
I also have Sony Vue. Works well. No buffering or logon issues. I was a Directv customer for over 17 years. Glad I canceled service when AT&T bought them. AT&T is an awful company. They wreck everything they touch.
I was a Comcast hater and a Directv supporter (12 years with Directv) until two years ago when I could no longer live with Verizon DSL.It was a real shocker to find that Comcast had improved about 1 million %.Going from 3 MPS (DSL) to 240 MPS (Comcast) sealed the deal.ATT&T is the cancer of telecommunications-they have destroyed a really good company at Directv.In case anyone thinks that I work for Comcast,I kept Directv and Verizon from 2001 to 2016 because of the way Comcast treated me in the past.I’m glad that I dumped Verizon (they were supposed to have FIOS in my town in 2010-still waiting)
I lose my Hulu Live signal at least once a day for the last three months. I can get it back by restarting my Roku or restarting my Comcast modem. How does that compare with DirecTV”s continuing problems.